1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to data compression, and more particularly, relate to image data compression.
2. Related Art
Data compression may be used to take input data, such as data corresponding to an image, or such as data corresponding to multiple images in a video, and to convert the input data to compressed output data. The compressed output data will include fewer bits than, or will have a smaller bandwidth than, the uncompressed input data. However, despite not identically replicating the original input data, the output data, once decompressed, should be a suitable representation of the uncompressed input data.
Display stream compression (DSC) may be used to reduce power in a display panel interface, to increase the interface's payload capacity, or both. Present DSC technology can attain a visually lossless reconstruction of 24-bit RGB pixel data that is compressed to a compression ratio of approximately 3 to 1 with acceptable circuit complexity and power, the compression ratio referring to a ratio of the size of the uncompressed image data (e.g., input bits) to the size of the compressed image data (e.g., output bits). Advanced DSC, however, is attempting to attain a visually lossless reconstruction up to approximately a 4 to 1 compression ratio, meaning that no visually perceivable differences exist between the uncompressed input image and the compressed output image.
However, currently used methods for compressing image data may result in the creation of compressed images that contain unwanted streaking artifacts when the original input image contains a hard “edge” (e.g., a boundary, a jump, a discontinuity, or a singularity in the image, which may be caused by a sharp transition from a foreground to a background, or which may be caused by adjacent groups of pixels representing contrasting colors). The ringing, which may also be referred to as streaking or overshoot, is caused by an effect known as Gibbs Phenomenon, which may be a result of running a mathematical transform across the edge within the image during the compression of the image.
The above information disclosed in this Related Art section is only to enhance the understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore it may contain information that does not constitute prior art.